the fiscal cliff is bad, but not irretrievable. you can go into january and still put the pieces back together. as you know, defaulting on the debt is irretrievable thing. that's the economic equivalent of a nuclear weapon. that is a big dynamite compared to the fiscal cliff crew having said that, as they get to the year end, i think they'll say we'll vote to extend middle class tax cuts. our leverage is greater because it's the nuclear bomb so they can increase their leverage as they move toward a vote. we may end up into january early february negotiating again about a debt ceilingle. >> that would be very hazardous. an economic nuclear deterrent is only effective if you're ready to set it off. i'm not saying there aren't tea party republicans that would be willing to tank the economy on this, but i think republicans really are overplaying their hand if they think they're going to get a lot of leverage out of this debt ceiling. they may think that. but people remember that episode more than a year ago and it really backfired. it